1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to computer aided design and, more particularly, to a method for planning an industrial automation arrangement and to a device for planning an industrial automation arrangement.
2. Description of the Related Art
Industrial automation arrangements consist, on the one hand, of hardware, i.e., active and passive electrical and electronic components and, on the other hand, software or a multiplicity of computer programs which are executed by the active components of the industrial automation arrangement. The hardware of the automation arrangement is generally assembled and “connected” by users in an interactive process at screen-assisted workstations. This process is also referred to as “engineering” or frequently as “planning”. Here, graphical objects representing the components of the automation arrangement are often selected from component libraries, are arranged on a desktop and are related to one another. The software can also be produced in a similar manner using “graphical programming”, also often referred to as “planning”. Here, it is generally customary practice, during planning, for a user to determine the form of hardware configuration and the software architecture using a sequence of control actions on a graphical user interface (GUI). Here, the control actions (inputs) have an effect on an object model in which the objects represent the automation hardware components and/or software components and their relationships to one another.
This object model is a data representation of the hardware and software, and is generally stored in the memory area of a computer or planning workstation.
When creating or planning automation systems, it is often the case that particular groups of components have to be newly generated again and again, after which they are then individualized. For example, a combination of a particular computer unit (CPU) and other subassemblies is installed again and again in one or more automation arrangements but individual discrepancies may occur, such as the use of a different type of CPU. In order to exonerate a user of a planning workstation from repeatedly planning the same or similar subassemblies, groups of components or software modules, different aids are known. For example, groups of objects (such as components) and their relationships to one another may be combined with one another to form “function blocks” and may be stored in a library, with the result that they can be used again and again as modules. The disadvantage of this, inter alia, is that such libraries may be very extensive, with the result that it is difficult to maintain or gain an overview of the existing modules and it is difficult to subsequently perform the necessary individualization operations. Another possibility is to record sequences of control actions using “macro recorders”, each user input, such as the clicking of a button or a text input, being logged, and such a “macro” being able to be “played” again as often as desired. As a result, the repeated input of control sequences can be avoided. However, these “macros” are suitable only when exactly the same prerequisites (“starting state”) with regard to the user interface used are present, with the result that they regularly cannot be used in an expedient manner in the context of the planning of complex industrial automation arrangements.
All of this results in conventional planning processes having to be newly performed in further parts for every combination (entity) of an automation arrangement. Consequently, the hardware configuration, and often also the software configuration, frequently consists of a large number of very similar steps which nevertheless often have to be repeatedly performed in the same manner or in a similar manner by a user (automation engineer).